The CEO Golden Hour—Option 1: Calling Donors

What does it mean to “cultivate” a donor and how would a busy CEO find the time to do that even if they knew what to do?

This is a question we are asked regularly by the groups in our Sustainable Funding Program, now that they have an ever-increasing number of donors in their Multiple-Year Giving Society.

Rather than merely invoicing donors and expecting them to dutifully make their pledge payment for each of the next five years, these wise CEOs and development directors have discovered that with a high-touch system of personalized contacts, even the busiest of CEOs can begin—and even enjoy—the donor cultivation process!

Today we begin a series of three features entitled the CEO Golden Hour, highlighting the top three things your busy CEO can do to impact donor cultivation and major gifts if they are willing to dedicate merely one hour a week to this critical process.

CEO Golden HourOption 1:Personal cultivation phone calls to donors in your Multiple-Year Giving Society(who have pledged at least $1,000 a year for the next five years)

Purpose: Getting to know your donors

Preparation:

CEO/Executive Director: Block out one hour per week for calls on CEO’s calendar

Development director:

Schedule four calls in advance. Tell each donor the call will last ten minutes at most.

Use the five minutes before each call to brief your CEO on each donor’s background.

Bring a back-up list of other donors in case you finish early.

During the Call:

CEO/Executive Director:

Ask questions to engage donors in a dialog and learn more about their particular areas of interest and passion for your work:

How did you first learn about our organization or become involved with us?